Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Gluten Free Cooking Tips #2 -- Use your Slow Cooker

Cooking Tip#2

Use your Slow Cooker

If you are a reluctant cook, a slow cooker can be your best
friend! Many slow cooker recipes simply require you to add ingredients to the
cooking insert, turn it on, and let it go. The “set it and forget it”
philosophy is a huge help to many home cooks who don’t like to stand over a
stove and prepare meals.

Slow cookers aren’t just for soups and stews. You can slowly
roast meats, make casseroles, prepare breakfasts, snacks, appetizers, and even
desserts! (Shameless plug -- my slow cooker cookbook “TheEverythingGluten-FreeSlowCookerCookbook”, which includes recipes for ALL of these
categories will be coming out this October 2012!)

A 4-quart slow cooker is a great all-purpose size to start
with, especially for couples or small families. You can cook small roasts or
chicken, casseroles, soups, stews, etc... that will feed enough for 4-6 people.

Another slow cooker bonus is that it’s generally very easy
to clean. Before adding ingredients to cook, simply grease or treat the slow
cooker with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. This will help foods not to
stick to the glazed stoned insert that’s found in newer slow cookers. Once
removing the cooked food, cut the slow cooker off and allow to cool for about
30 minutes. When the stone-insert is cool enough to handle, gently wash with
hot soapy water. Dry with a kitchen towel and place back in the slow cooker!
It’s instantly ready for the next use.

“An easy, quick meal can start with a frozen piece of meat.
I like to put a chicken or roast in the slow cooker in the morning completely
frozen. I add a few favorite veggies. For me that would be carrots, celery,
onions, and garlic. For someone else, it could differ. Add a few of your
favorite seasonings, a bit of broth or water, turn it to low, and walk away for
the day.” -- Pamela M., author of Aseafish Out of Water

Please visit each topic in "10 Days of Gluten Free"From: May 7th - May 18th

10 Days Gluten Free GIVEAWAY!
Included with this awesome series is a giveaway on each blog once the two weeks are over! I will be giving away a brand new copy of Carol Fenster's cookbook, "100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes." This is one of my FAVORITE gluten free cookbooks with an awesome collection of Carol's absolute best recipes.

The Giveaway Nitty Gritty:

This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents 18 and older.

You are allowed one entry per "10 Days of Gluten Free" blog post for a total of 10 entries on this blog.

Enter by leaving a comment (WITH an email address to contact you) on this post (and other 10 Days of GF posts).

The giveaway begins May 7, 2012 and ends at 11:59 pm eastern time on May 18, 2012.

No purchase is necessary.

Odds of winning are based on the number of entries.

The winner will be randomly chosen and will be contacted by email.

The winner will have 48 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be randomly chosen

My family and I have a favorite Crock Pot recipe, but we get tired of it. I wish we had more recipes so that we could use the Crock Pot more often. It really is quite handy for working parents. I am going to check out your recipes. Thank you so much ! lisafowler@zoominternet.net

My family and I love our Crock Pot, but we only have one recipe we really like and , unfortunately, we have gotten tired of. I will check out your site for more recipes. Crock Pots really are handy for working parents. I want to use our's more ! lisafowler@zoominternet.net

This is wonderful, thanks so much for the recipes and the reminder. I love my slow cooker but haven't used it in a while. Also, I wanted to mention that there are these wonderful slow cooker liners, made by Reynolds that are a life saver. I haven't bought them in a while but if i remember correctly they come in a box of 2-3 and only cost 2.00. They are a life saver, you just put in the liner, then follow your recipe as usual. When it's time to clean up you simply pull the bag out and throw it in the trash can, then I usually rinse the inside of my cooker out with some soapy water, but that's just to wipe it down basically. apjp2005@yahoo.com

I had this (almost) overwhelming desire to put a frozen chuck roast in the slow cooker this morning before I left for work. I love that I can decide last minute and it's so easy. The only reason I didn't is that we have lots of different meats that we grilled on Sunday ready and waiting in the fridge.

I noticed someone else mentioned the chicken and artichoke recipe. It's going on my "must try" list. I must get a 4 quart size cooker. That sounds perfect.

I like to buy whole chickens, butcher, and cook the "remaining parts" so that I end up with a great stock plus all the extra meat that is normally discard to make soup, taco/enchilada meat or croquettes. Emmaehohl3@gmail.com